Level 4: Grand Circuit
Terry and Selina entered the gateway. It had been 2 weeks since Terry had completed a level, he wanted to feel prepared, but Mother Martin told him, “If you wait till you are ready, you never will be.” and he took that bit to heart.
They dressed in the supplied track suits in the per-level locker room. Terry had grown closer to all his training companions, however he still did not know how they each felt about him. He dwelt on this in his nervous state before entering the level.
Hurk was the easiest to gauge his friendship level with. Hurk came from a tribe and his social skills were very set on hierarchy, he had been a low member on that hierarchy, so he deferred to everyone. Terry could see that Hurk was mainly focused on weight training. As such, he had directly told Terry how he felt as they were resting between reps.
“I like your drive kid! You don’t make excuses and don’t fight back when I ask you to get something done! You're a good partner, I like that” Hurk slapped a big strong hand on his shoulder, while saying this and Terry felt the praise, smiling at his new funny friend.
Morris was almost as easy to understand, but not to read. He rarely talked about himself choosing to point out others and their abilities. He was crazy smart in the identifying of the arena symbols for Mini-Boss and Hoard levels. Terry could barely keep them straight, but Morris was quick to answer and usually even had some of the facts about the enemy or setting on hand. He was a focused and tempered person, Terry barely saw an emotion outside of contentment with him on a regular basis, this did not stop him from giving praise or thoughts on Terry’s progression however, he had done just that just the day before after a simple sparring session.
“You don’t second guess your moves, you know what you’re going to do and get it done. It is a good ability in a knife fight, there is not enough room at that close of combat for indecision. Keep that quick thinking and you won't be beaten often." He spoke even and clean with very little inflection and yet every word stuck in Terry’s mind like a dart on a board. Morris was honest and clever, it might be a trait that ran in the family.
Selina was not forthcoming with praise, she was, however, direct with criticism. It was never rude or said in a way that could cause offense, it was probably her looks helping there, but compliments were not her way. Selina was very direct and her opinions were often infallible. Built on simple ideas, she reinforced everything with strong book knowledge that allowed very little room for compromise. She only shared her opinions once they were airtight and not a moment before.
Terry had no real clue, besides the opinions she had expressed when first meeting him, how she felt toward him. They had worked together going over a number of lessons and tactics to get him to an acceptable level to get back to taking on levels. However in that time she had just moved on once he acknowledged or he showed understanding for a concept. Terry did not need the praise, but some form of acknowledgement outside of the idiot or ass she had called him that night would have been nice.
Before they had entered the level together to get some items while Hurk and Morris did their first Hoard fight, Selina had just reiterated the lesson she had taught him on possible scenarios they could be put in.
“The task will more likely be inconsequential rather than a dire circumstance. These levels have given any number of random scenarios from cooking like the one you did already to a simple math test. You should be fine and we can use Rosa to answer anything that comes up.” She spoke matter-a-factually.
It annoyed Terry a little and it was not just because she was pretty and he wanted to impress her, or at least he told himself that. As such, there was a lot of nervous and tentative energy in him as they went through the locker room door into the level.
This time the area beyond the door was much wider and open, it was a large field with some hills and dips present in their sight range. There was a track of what could very well be asphalt winding through the countryside and it looked more like a roller coaster than a pleasant afternoon drive. To the pair’s left was exactly what Terry wanted to see.
“GO-KARTS!!!”
Terry was very excited looking over the different vehicles. They were loud and bright colors with stripes and race marks to help competitors or spectators spot them on the winding crazy track. Terry felt giddy at the fun he was about to have and Selina watched on and the level announcement came on.
“Racers choose a vehicle and attempt to place , In the top 3, in the Grand Circuit. The track contains many dangers, avoid them and the other racers to make it to the end.”
“Well it should be quick at least” Selina muttered loud enough for Terry to hear. Terry ignored her, not letting the somber thoughts ruin the good mood that was building. He did have a thought, however and he turned to get an opinion from a friend.
“Rosa, I am not sure you will be very safe on this, do you have any idea how you can ride?” Terry asked knowing that she would have a better idea then what he might come up with.
Rosa had been learning too while Terry had been training. If she was going to be his partner in this world, she would need to learn how to best support him and his team. She had dived into learning about the different experiences people had in levels. Players had documented many experiences in playing different levels. She would probably hide out during Hoard and Mini-boss levels, but in these she could be more helpful inside the level rather than just watching. She was smart and could figure out tricks to complete levels and minimize surprises.
It came to her as she looked up, “I can map the track and tell you what is coming up. I can be your passenger with a map! Can you get me up there?” she pointed with her head to a tall pole with an odd set of flags attached to it.
Terry took a moment to look, there were 3 flags each waving gloriously in the wind. Each was different; the top was blue with a crossed hammer and ingot over a tower. Under that was a yellow flag, with a card and two other cards behind it, the bottom was the standard black and white checkerboard flag. Terry pointed out the flags to Selina, who answered, “That top one is of the Iron Bay, probably for the gateway we are in. The second is for Jack, the Jack the god who controls and blessed us with these types of levels. I think she will be able to see the whole track from up there and if you signal to me we can know what turns are coming up and if there is an obstacle. I don’t think this is going to be a standard race” She frowned at her last statements.
One of Selina’s Attributes was Flight, it allowed her to grow beautiful white feathered wings for a short time to move around on a field and heal as needed. She had not shared all her abilities with him and Terry picked up that it was not always wise to share all of his own abilities as well. You never knew if one of the tasks would pit him against another player.
They each chose a kart, after Selina had placed Rosa on the top of the flagpole on a small platform that seemed to be up there just for that purpose. She had put the walkie talkie, more like a half black bubble device next to her, connected to the earpiece that Terry had. Terry chose his favorite bright color, blue, and Selina seemed to settle in a bright red kart. Terry’s, despite being only 5’6”, legs were at first almost bent up to his chest uncomfortably, but after a moment the cart seemed to morph and elongate to a size that allowed for his lanky form to sit comfortably. As they got situated, other forms filled in the remaining carts, these once again seemed like androids with simple and plain human shapes.
The Announcer gave the countdown and the racers were off.
Terry heard in his ear directions from Rosa, “Be prepared for a right then sharp left into a corkscrew, they are not starting this off easy.” Terry signaled over to Selina who was just to his right side pointing and swirling a finger to indicate directions. He hoped they were clear enough for her.
The course was frantic and tight in the beginning with all 12 karts bunched after the start. The first turn thinned out the crowd as some racers jostled and fought for position, this became even more frantic around the corkscrew. Some of these droid drivers were obviously more experienced than others, bumping and drifting occurred around Selina and Terry who desperately tried to keep in the line of the track and out of the way of the insane drivers.
“One more turn and it straightens out, looks like a straight way leads to a jump so try and keep that speed, I don’t see a bottom to that hole you're going over.” Rosa explained as they became comfortable with the controls and entered the straightaway. Terry did not have a ton of room to build up speed for the jump, but the straight away did give the other drivers a better place as droids became less frantic on the more predictable part of the course.
As he got to the ramp, Terry pressed even harder on the pedal hoping to gain more speed for the jump. It felt like he was going too slow to make it, but it was not easy to tell. He had cars ahead and behind too many to count in the situation to know where he was in the pack.
“Once you get outta jump, prepare to turn left and you get some bumps or something on that end” Rosa told him just as he saw the track disappearing in front of him. He began to soar and instantly felt the sensation of up and then free fall as he moved through the air. He saw the landing ramp shortly in front of him and he felt a moment of panic wondering if he would make it or not. The feeling stayed till he landed fully on the other side.
Just as Rosa had informed him, a left turn suddenly appeared more like a hairpin than a gradual turn. He jerked the wheel to the left, skidding and drifting like a pebble on water around the turn. He could barely keep track of the other racers and he hoped Selina was able to anticipate the turn.
In the following straightaway after the turn were many bumps. Short, stubby and uneven. There was no way around them, Instead they were set like an on and off pattern alternating from side to side. The result was a bucking and jarring ride that threatened to knock Terry out of the cart, he was flung like a rag doll holding on for dear life to the cart as he sped down the knobby uneven road.
“Wide right, wide right” Rosa called just in time as the lumpy road smoothed out to the turn. It was an elongated set of track allowing him to settle his jostling posture and get back in the race. The gradual curve allowed him to find that Selina had moved further in front of him up at least 3 positions compared to his own. He worked to close that gap as Rosa continued to call out directions and obstacles in his ear.
“This straight-away looks like it has a climb and drop, you might be able to get more ahead here. After that there is another corkscrew, but this one is to the right.” Rosa called out helpfully.
The rise was not a steep incline, but these levels being made in a void allowed for customization terrain that seemed to be whatever the creators wanted. The drop was exactly the opposite of the climb, extremely steep. He screamed down the track catching and passing other more cautious drivers, Terry felt a need to rush and use the advantage as the thrill of competition grew in him. As the course turned into the right hand corkscrew winding up on an incline he became aware that he was leading the group.
Rosa’s voice helped him focus as he continued the long coil of road, “This next area is going to be tricky, it is a open area with some obstacle when you enter and leave like a gateway, looks like there is a shimmering field and several different tracks in this part that go in so many directions it is hard to see. After that though you have one more corkscrew to the end.” Terry soon saw the obstacles that Rosa had mentioned.
It was an archway leading to 6 different paths, each was a round tubular tunnel making it hard to see what direction they led. A light began to shine from the front of his cart as he went through the gate and entered a tunnel. Even with the aid of the light it was very dark and Terry found it extremely difficult to tell direction. On his first turn however he found the trick as his cart was going fast enough to use the walls as he quickly swerved to the right. The cart stayed on the ground, but the ground was actually the wall during his turn. This happened several more times as he weaved and wove through each turn making his way through the tunnel. It was unexpectedly dark aside from his light, allowing him to see the end as a small spec that grew large as he quickly approached. He could see the corkscrew as he exited and noted that some of his droid competitors had pulled out in front in the confusion of the tunnels.
He closed some distance, but was not able to pass anyone else as he saw them approaching the finish line, except the checkered flag was not waving as the first droid passed the line and Terry saw a 2/3 flash on the banner above the line as others passed beneath. He had two more circuits to complete, or to win in this case. Confidence rose in him; he knew the course now and it would be easier to plan and pass the other drivers. Then it all came crashing down with Rosa’s next words and Terry remembered something all Kart racing video games had.
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“Ah, Terry there are circles on the track with holographic images above them, I think they are power-up. OH NO! THERE ARE POWER-UP BEFORE EACH TURN GET THEM AND LOOK OUT!” Rosa’s voice was frantic, which was not good.
Terry got his first power up as he approached the turn that went into the first corkscrew. It was a shield, a pink bubble formed around his cart as he drove through the symbol. It would be hard to react and choose a power-up with the speeds they were using, but Terry did not regret getting this one as fire engulfed the shield after a missile hit near a wall on the turn he was taking. The shield held though and all Terry could feel was a slight warmth from the explosion.
He became more wary of the other drivers, he could barely tell which was Selina and he hoped she was okay as more abilities flashed behind and around him. He saw driver's fly past him with rocket boosts, just to crash into a wall and fly off the track. Terry got a boost power-up right before the jump and almost did the same in the turn afterward. The track became mayhem, as missiles and hazards flew from each driver, who were trying to literally take out their competitors.
Now that Terry had drivers both in front and behind him he saw a full range of hazards being used. Puddles of black oil littered the bumpy straight away as well as some electric charge yellow goo, Terry could see it was electric from arching yellow bolts as cartoonishly wicked as crackling lightning. it seemed to flash out of the puddles and toward his cart while he drove by. On the incline and decline section he got some odd horn that blared out an obnoxious sound at the droid he passed. The droid attempted to cover its nonexistent ears and promptly veered off the track.
He was getting nervous as they were reaching the tunnels, he hoped and tried to aim for the shield before he entered one of the closed off areas. He narrowly grabbed it entering a new tunnel then one he had used before. Terry swerved in the enclosed space feeling confident with his pink bobble, he did not suffer any hits or damage in the tunnels. But as he left, the bubble blinked away as he could not turn away in time to avoid an oil spill directly at the exit of the tunnel.
Terry drifted tight around the last turn feeling a sense of inevitability as he reached the finish line for the third lap. As expected Rosa’s voice came over the earpiece with a new warning for the last lap.
“There are more sections of the track that are changing. It looks like some sorta boost, you’ll need to be precise to get them though, they look to have very tight quarters.” Terry saw one form directly after the corkscrew, and he swerved dangerously to get in its path. The boost was sudden and amazing.
His vision elongated and narrowed as he was jumping to something like light speed from Star Wars, he sped quickly past two other drivers before they had a chance to react. Terry could barely react to the first turn, it was a lucky thing as he used the wall to assist his turn, almost jarring him out of the cart. The boost ended as he got into the corkscrew and he grabbed a missile power up.
Terry sighted on the driver in front of him and was about to hit the button when he got a warning in his ear.
“That is Selina in front of you.” Rosa warned.
Terry noticed it right before his finger could press the fire button that appeared on the stirring device. He just noticed a blur of golden hair and he thanked the turtle mentally for the warning. His hesitation did have a drawback, it caused him to barely miss the poodle of oil someone had left for him before. The bumpy straightway was riddled with oil and goo and what had to be mines with each bump. He had to swerve side to side to avoid these and used the boost stripes to jump at times over the obstacles. He suddenly swerved to the side as he came out of the lumpy trail. He just got back control as another racer flashed past and he smiled and shot the missile. It flew homing directly and exploded the cart to a cloud of debris.
He was not sure at this point how many racers were left, there was too much noise and commotion to really get a handle on what place he was even in. As if she were reading his mind Rosa piped in.
“You’re in third and Selina’s in second. There is no one behind you for a bit so you should be safe, just try and catch up.” Terry’s smile stayed in place as he hit the boost coming up for the jump. This one was better placed for timing as he flew and the speed dissipated while he was in the air. He landed smoothly and drifted into the next turn a few feet behind Selina. He wondered how to make a plan with her, he might be able to help her win or vice versa, the first place prize would be the best for either of them.
Terry pressed on the gas hard in the corkscrew, the speed seemed to be regulated around the pressure he put on the pedal. Selina was close, but the chaotic sounds of the raceway were stopping her from hearing him as he called out. As they exited the turn he was able to speed alongside her before the incline and steep decline section. He made a decision to help her instead of trying to win himself, it had to do a lot with the competitive edge he saw in her the moment she looked at him. He nodded to her hoping she understood his intent. She winked and he looked ahead to see what power up he could nab before going down.
-
Selina was surprised by the look Terry gave her as she reached the boost power up, he grabbed the missile next to it just as they crested the top of the drop. The first place cart was in front and not as far as she thought he was before. Then the goo dropped almost directly in her path. Terry fired his missile just as she tried to swerve to the left, but she could not use her boost in the moment she planned to. She had gotten one before and used it in the tunnel; this could be a good opportunity to do that again and sneak into 1st.
She had mixed emotion as she roared down the hill faster than any lap before. She had been annoyed that Mother Martin took such an interest in Terry, helping him train and asking that each of them take time to train him as well. She wanted to get the levels here and move on to the capital where she could earn more money for Morris and her. But when she brought this idea to Morris, he was reluctant to move at this time. He wanted to travel the Diamondlands and complete some gateways, but not directly to the capital. He wanted to meander to the north or just east eventually rather than going to the east directly.
Morris was different, on her return from school. This scared her, he was so vivid and full of energy before she left, now he seemed more concerned and completely unlike the excited player she had talked to before leaving for school.
In reality it was true, but less alarming than Selina internally worried about it. Morris hadn’t changed, he was always slightly reluctant, but less vocal. It was Selina’s excitement for the pair to live big in the capital as players that was more infectious then she realized. She was seeing the past, the Selina-dominated discussions as concrete for the foundation of the house that was their partnership.
She did not dislike Terry, it was hard not to like him in fact. Terry had been a great student these past weeks and teaching him had been a wealth of information for herself. However, He was a reason that Morris had used to stay behind or travel elsewhere first, so her views were clouded on this newcomer she had been asked to teach.
In the moment, where he had nodded and she had understood, her stomach began to churn and show signs of nerves. Had she been rude or wrong towards him? Why was he making the decision to help her now? She needed to put these distractions aside as she finished the 4th corkscrew and tried to pick what tunnel she would speed into. She saw something that made the decision for her.
One of the power-ups that had formed in front of the tunnels was a boost, she pressed on the button to use her current boost and rushed through the second as she entered the tunnel at nearly the same time as the 1st place racer. It would not be in first for long, she thought to herself.
-
Terry was excited for Selina, as he saw her boost into a tunnel and knew she would have a better chance at winning with that decision, now he could just worry about getting past the racer to make second. He decided the easiest way to not leave it to the chance of the tunnels was to follow and simply try and pass him. As he lined up with the proper tunnel, the power-up in front of it returned, it was not a symbol he had seen or used in the prior laps. He drove through and the button popped up on his steering wheel, meaning he would have to aim and fire or he could time the use of the ability.
The tunnel twisted and turned sharply in unknowable directions as he tried to keep the other racer in sight. Once again he would know the end of the tunnel by the light at the end. He could smell the exhaust from the kart in front of him as he made it to the tunnel’s straightaways and he jammed down on the button. A small spark emitted from the front of his cart then shot out like a bolt of electricity from a lightning machine. It hit the cart in front of him directly, the electric pulse shutting down all the functions of cart and driver.
Terry let out a “WAHOO” as he sped out of the tunnel into the final turn and then past the finish line behind Selina. Both karts came gradually to a stop and platforms rose underneath them moving them in the classic 1st and 2nd places on the podium. Two prizes bundles appeared, Selina getting a nice Orange bundle and Terry receiving a Blue for his place. Then came the system message
You have been granted experience. You have 70 points of experience. You now have 95 points of experience. You have unlocked utility skills.
You have unlocked the skill crosshair, when aiming a distance weapon a crosshair will appear in your HUD to assist with accurate aiming. When looking down the sight of the weapon, if the weapon has sighting tools, you gain the ability to enhance your sight lines for more precision.
-
Morris and Hurk were having a good time on the hoard level. They had gotten a relatively simple enemy in a complex setting, they were fighting corrupted ocelots revenging thru a jungle town. The corruption was close to the earth disease rabies, it made the small nimble jungle cats aggressive and gave their bite a chance of infecting anyone with a similar condition. Once bitten the droids in the town, acting as townspeople, could become aggressive attackers to the players defending and eliminating the threat.
Hurk was not as well suited to fighting the aggressive ocelots. Their small size and quick movements found them past his guard rather quickly, in return the small jungle cats did not have a ton of health so it was quick work for him to bash one on the head and take it out of the fight. Morris had a simpler time using his new spells and the longer reach of his weapon, a bow staff provided in the locker room, in taking out the enemies.
There were about 15 corrupted ocelots at the beginning of the fight and a total of 20 townspeople, who could be saved or alternatively turned against the players. At this point in the fight there were 5 ocelots and 3 corrupted townspeople left. Many of the townspeople had been ushered by Hurk to a point in the town, in a large central building, where they were considered safe. A few had fallen or turned before he could move them to the spot, but the teamwork of the players had given them an upper hand in the crisis.
Morris worked the staff impressively, one of his new attributes had given him proficiency with blunt weapons and pole-arms, he usually didn’t like something so long and borderline unwieldy but he didn’t want to find out if he could become infected. He saw Hurk returning to him after leading the last group of survivors to the safe point, it was just in time. Hurk could not run quickly however, his smaller legs and arms pumped furiously as he saw the situation that Morris was in.
Morris had been defending and distracting the aggressive enemies, using his staff to keep the attention on him but having no real way to end them quickly. His hits with the staff were solid, but it was harder to get a killing strike with the blunt staff. Seeing his partner return gave Morris a chance to try something, he brought the staff right smacking one of the corrupted villagers and gave the command “Break” speaking with power as the blow landed. The droid villager’s head exploded with the command in an amazing and brutal fashion. Morris smiled at the unexpected use of his spell.
He repeated the move in quick succession on the 2 remaining villagers leaving the 5 small aggressive jungle cats. Hurk came into the fight wailing a war cry to call attention off Morris and swinging his spiked club down on the enemy. With the two there, it was quick work dispatching the final ocelots and ending the fight.
With the end of the fight, the villagers that had been saved came from the safe house to meet and reward their saviors, “Thank you both for your timely arrival! Please accept these gifts for your struggle and for saving the town!” The droid handed them each upgrade potions as he bowed and backed away. The two players smiled happy to have gained their full list of attributes and turned to leave the level and meet up once again with Selina and Terry.
Morris had been slower to receive his upgrade, only getting one in each level so far, he worried that he would need to wait to receive his 4th till they got to another set of gateways. He would have his full set and be able to join Hurk, Terry and Selina in the random task level or wherever else they wanted to go.
Morris thought of his Sister as they left to go meet her. She had approached him about just him and her going to the capital like they had talked about when they were kids, he had pretty much declined the offer now though. He liked the quieter areas he was in now and he liked working as a blacksmith, he had been accepted as an apprentice mostly to have more money and something to do when his sister left. He had always trained for when he might get his tutorial, but it had taken a while for him to get one.
Selina seemed to have not really changed in the decisions she had decided on when they were younger, but Morris’ life was different and it seemed to keep changing. He was not sure where he would be in another month or even another week from now. It was troubling to him and he was not sure who or even how to talk about it.
-
Selina had gotten an orange bundle and excitedly opened it in front of the group. Just by coincidence the two groups came out of their respective gateways at just about the same time and so Selina and Terry decided to do a little showing off with each of their winnings. The bundle opened to reveal a set of bracelets. There were several connected loops of bright color and intricate design, there were 4 bands on each of the bracelets. Yellow, green, red and blue bands and the other with the reverse of the same colors. Each band had a different design of fine and slight etching that seemed to correlate to an element, the red had lines for fire, the yellow electricity, the green had leafy vines, and the blue had flowing waves.
“I can have Mother Martin identify these when we get back, she has an identifying wand.” Selina explained running a finger along the bands.
Terry was happy to hear that, he liked the meditation, but a wand was much more convenient. He wondered if it would say more about the daggers he had gotten last time. He unwrapped his blue bundle, it was in a box long and narrow inside were a pair of high top sneakers. Each was a different color, but still seemed to match alternating dark blues, greens and grays separated by stitching and layers of fabric. They had soft yet hard feeling rubber soles, they looked like classic Chuck Taylor's, which he had always liked.
“Shoes have a smaller list of possible enchantments then other types of clothing, they could be sneaking boots or add a bit of speed or even just let you walk on water.” Morris said looking over his shoulder, “They can usually adjust too, so anyone can wear them if you sell them.” Terry nodded, excited to see what they could do as they made their way back to Mother Martin’s.